Maybe the highest perk for the 60 gamers who survived one of the crucial wind-blown, grueling days on the Masters was getting a weekend at Augusta Nationwide much more agreeable.
Flags had been flapping, not crackling, when the third spherical started Saturday. It was shaping as much as be a day extra suited to scoring and surviving.
“This weekend goes to be good. Hopefully there will probably be some alternatives to make a run,” stated Phil Mickelson, a three-time champion taking part in in his thirty first Masters. He closed with a 65 final yr to complete runner-up. Lefty is aware of about alternatives.
Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa shared the lead at 6-under 138 going into the third spherical. They had been two photographs away from Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark, who has purpose to imagine he might be the primary participant since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 to win the Masters on his first try.
The weekend additionally consists of Tiger Woods, which is at all times the case at Augusta Nationwide when Woods is wholesome sufficient to play. He set a file Friday for making the lower for the twenty fourth consecutive time, courting to his first yr as a professional.
Woods shot 72 on a day when the common rating was 75.09, the very best for the second spherical within the Masters since 2007, when it was windy and frigid. Solely eight gamers broke par, the identical variety of gamers who shot 80 or larger.
“I’m right here. I’ve an opportunity to win the golf event,” Woods stated.
Saturday is often often known as shifting day, and Woods and everybody else have a whole lot of shifting in entrance of them. Woods was seven photographs behind, however he had 21 gamers in entrance of him.
Fourteen gamers began the third spherical below par, 4 of them with expertise profitable a significant — Scheffler and DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa and Cameron Smith.
One factor was pretty sure when play started — the stroll amongst azaleas and dogwoods was positive to extra satisfying that taking part in in 40 mph gusts that blew bunker sand into gamers’ faces and onto the greens and scattered magnolia leaves all around the course.
“We received the sand bathe to finish our day. So it was form of the golf course saying, ‘Get the hell out of right here,’” Homa stated on the finish of his spherical on Friday.
On Saturday, it felt extra like, “Welcome again.”
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